Skies Filled with Fire
by Oceanbreeze7
Summary: Dark!Tony. Tony develops control issues after escaping Afghanistan. Tony needs to have everything under his control- he needs to know everything. He can't be caught off guard again- he can't. He takes control of companies, businesses, governments, SHIELD. Tony rules the world, and nobody seems to understand that.


Tony Stark breathed in the dusty sand and the smell of burning flesh.

Voices- garbled noises and sounds of men in dying throes. Tony heard screams, ringing around and around inside his metal helmet, vibrating against the inner walls of his skull.

Tony choked, tasting a mixture of drowning water and the thick molasses of warm blood.

 _'Those are your weapons! In the hands of those murderers!'_

Tony's lips moved, speaking silent words as Yinsen's angry shout whispered through the air.

 _'Is this what you want?'_

A man jumped in front of Tony, firing a Stark Industries automatic weapon. The bullets deflected off of the heavy shell Tony walked with, ricocheting off of the walls and puncturing the man's own chest.

He collapsed, gurgling blood and clawing one hand in the dusty sand.

 _'Is this what you wish the great legacy of the great Tony Stark to be?'_

Tony watched the life drain from the man's eyes and chest. The sand clumped into a soggy mixture too dark for anything except blood.

His weapons- Tony's own creations were being used by _murderers._ They were being used against the innocents, torturing and raping-

What they had done to Tony, leaving him at their mercy.

"Never again," Tony breathed, his breath hot and humid in the helmet.

He saw Yinsen dying again, just out of reach, just out of his _control._

Tony wouldn't ever be that defenseless again.

Everything would be in his control.

"Never again," He spoke again, agreeing.

From the explosions of gunpowder and corpses, Tony Stark was born with hysterical laughter and whispers in his head.

* * *

Tony was recovered from the sand dunes by Rhodey.

He was immediately airlifted to an armed forces hospital, placed on a gurney with doctors poking and prodding against the glowing ring in his chest.

Tony screamed, thrashing and curling into a ball to hide the light. They _couldn't-_ he was fine and they _couldn't touch him._

Rhodey shouted his name amidst his screaming rambles, delirious cries for Yinsen and for Raza to _stop, stop! Stop please I don't know anything stop-_

It was a sharp cold realization during his hysteria, as intrusive as the nights underground with a threadbare blanket for warmth. It made his bones ache and chest numb.

He was tortured, because he didn't know.

He would know _everything._

 _'Everything will be under control,'_ His mind whispered, warping and distorting within his brain to the guttural laughs of the guards who shoved his head under the water again and again.

 _'Never again,'_ He thought, resounding with a firm authority, _'Never again.'_

* * *

Tony nearly cried when he heard is AI, Jarvis, greet him with something akin to relief in his voice.

Tony had certainly missed his AI- for the longest time in his life, machines were the only things Tony found comfort in. Jarvis, with his ability to hack, direct, and communicate, was Tony's greatest invention.

His hand rose unbidden at the thought, gently clutching the Arc Reactor lodged in his chest cavity.

At least, Jarvis _was,_ until his own creation came along born from necessity and desperation.

Desperation because Tony's _own weapons_ were being used across the world, killing the people that he had been hired to protect.

How could he continue knowing that he was causing casualties on both sides?

All Tony wanted was peace, long everlasting _peace._ No more violence, no more ransom or global threats. No more _weapons._

Tony closed Stark Industries, ignoring Pepper and Obie with practiced ease of disassociating from other shouting men. The words they were saying practically were another language altogether anyways. Tony didn't _know_ them anymore.

Why couldn't they just accept that what they were doing was _wrong._ Tony was creating wars, he was filling caskets and destroying families.

Tony only wanted peace- but he knew it couldn't exist with his weapons still in the world.

The first thing Tony did once returning to his home in Malibu after announcing the closing of weapon manufacturing, was immediately start creating an algorithm to search globally for his weapons. He created new code, able to slide through police firewalls to look at documented evidence from guns and other weaponry. Jarvis filtered through thousands of photos of corpses and blood, searching for specific wounds that could have only been made by a Stark weapon.

Tony also created a new algorithm to track everything Pepper and Obie were saying, either in press releases, board meetings, or even over the phone.

Tony needed to know- he _always_ needed to stay informed. He couldn't risk anyone working behind his back ever again.

It took one week for his algorithm to detect suspicious behaviour from Obie. Strange and unusual firewalls were placed on Obie's laptop which deterred everyone from access. It was strange- Obie was keeping secrets? Obie wasn't _allowed_ to have secrets anymore.

Tony blew through the firewalls and watched the videos of his own beaten face and haunted eyes. Obie wasn't ever arrested, Tony had Jarvis take care of him. No human interaction meant no violence.

Obie wasn't ever heard of again.

(Tony broke through the firewalls of everyone with a company laptop. He arrested nine people and had one vanish mysteriously.)

* * *

Pepper was an amazing woman. Tony realized this only after searching through her files, her photos, tax returns, phone calls, and every other shred of information Tony could find. She had an impressive digital footprint, but none of it pointed to foul play.

He kept her, offering her expensive wine and fine jewelry.

(She declined, of course.)

Tony wasn't comfortable with only knowing his own company- regardless of what the board of directors said. At this point, Tony could easily enter every laptop, every statistical data file, alter it, and ruin any credibility each of his board members. Tony ruled his company and nobody knew- everything was under his thumb with precise calculation which assured nobody would ever remove him.

Stark Industries was just the starting step. The moment Hammer tech released a new model of automatic weaponry, Tony felt his paranoia mounting once again. His hands twitched and the rising surge of anxiety rushed through his body.

He hadn't expected Hammer to release a weapon so soon, it completely shattered his predictions.

(Something inside of him chanted almost inaudibly, _'Control, Control, Control.'_ )

Tony, working alongside Jarvis, hacked through the significant firewalls of Hammer Tech. He covered himself, rerouting programs and smoothing the edges of torn script and code to make the gaping hole as natural as if it had been there for years.

Tony spent a week, barely sleeping and eating only every other day, to increase Jarvis' capabilities to monitor two massive companies at once. It wasn't enough- what if someone managed to hack or damage Jarvis to some degree? Tony would lose _everything._

"Never again," Tony whispered, finding scraps and motherboards to begin another immense project, "Never again."

Tony spent a month, constructing an entirely new server to monitor the inner workings of both Stark Industries and Hammer tech. It moved with clean efficiency, filtering through the sheer mountain of paperwork and daily monitoring. Jarvis, although he never exactly said it, was relieved.

Tony then began working on a suit of armor, durable enough to combat his own weapons and give him a chance to destroy them.

(The Ten Rings were an unpredictable threat. Tony wasn't willing to take chances.)

* * *

The first suit was constructed, and an entire force of terrorists outside of Gulmira burned. His weapons were destroyed- as well as the weapon's dealer who had smuggled Tony's technology into the middle of the desert.

Tony didn't destroy the smugglers- he instead followed their pathetic digital trail to see where they had been working, looking for the single man who was feeding the scoundrels scraps of meat.

Only Tony _did,_ he hadn't ever _imagined_ the plethora of connections the main buyer had. Links and trade networks across India, into Africa to other terrorist groups, to southern Europe and across Russia and Siberia. From the Europe connection point, it expanded into Italy, Germany, France, Spain, eventually touching even England.

The England connection touched back to the United States- the _violence_ was _everywhere._

Tony began his construction of another server, made to mark and track along each of the connections around to world and find out exactly where his weaponry was.

The targeting systems in each of his missiles- it was Jarvis who noted it would be possible to hack since he, after all, was built with the same tracking potential.

(Tony built his four more suits before he detonated his weaponry across the globe. The sky was filled with fire)

* * *

Nobody accused Tony of having anything to do with the weaponry, he was afterall, out of the business.

Amazingly the blame fell onto Hammer Tech, media accusing him to destroying the weapons only to boost his own economic gain. Other smaller companies sprang into life, trying to feed the rapid demand for guns across the world. Tony quickly invaded and left his mark on those companies as well.

Then he stopped, and pressed further.

Area 51 was breached, filled with unfamiliar technology Tony had never seen before, nonetheless able to understand. Missile defense codes for the United States were at the tip of his tongue- the United States shouldn't be allowed to fire such dangerous _weapons_ , they would be an unpredictable threat as well.

Military bases and testing facilities in Nevada were under his fingertips, the CIA and FBI were backed up under multiple servers all under Jarvis.

Tony found Ivan Vanko, building his own suit to combat Tony. He was in Russia.

Russia's high security information fell by the end of the month.

* * *

Three years and Tony slipped closer to the embrace of death.

Of course he raged- dying wasn't _calculated._ He could stop and manage the symptoms, which left him with enough sanity to decide that if he was going to die, he was going to do it in _style._

He started sleeping around with random women (He already had their criminal record, school grades, even social security number with a snap of his hand). He threw exuberant parties, deciding to get utterly and completely _wasted_ in the security of his own home. He took the suit for more and more drastic and dangerous stunts and joyrides. He was something of a celebrity again. _'Genius-Playboy-Philanthropist.'_

He noticed Hammer had proposed the idea of a drone army, created in mimicry of Tony's own suit. Tony destroyed it before a single sketch had been thought up.

Then Pepper hired a new assistant, Ms. Natalie Rushman. Her portfolio was impressive, beautiful modeling pictures and surprising skills with personal fighting.

Her record was _spotless;_ Tony didn't trust her at all. She was as spontaneous and manipulative as the monsters who held him in a cage. She was _violent,_ a dangerous dog without a leash.

The archives of Russia told something of a 'Red Room'. A place where killers and liars grew and slaughtered one another to stay alive.

Oh, how much more impressive Natasha Romanov was now- how entirely _predictable_ now that he knew _everything._

He played along, smiling drunkenly and throwing disastrous festivities which ended with Rhodey fighting him and Tony smashing through half a dozen walls.

Rhodey flew off with a suit, Tony knew the exact location it landed and was now stored.

Then Nick Fury showed up. Threatened Tony with the information that he _knew_ Tony was dying. And he supposedly had the cure.

Nick Fury was the director of SHIELD, an international protection for the entire world against threats beyond the aid of government and military. Tony hacked it too.

He created Starkanium, found files on top secret objects such as alien weapons, other attempts to create Tony's suit, and something called a Tesseract.

Apparently the Tesseract was related to Hydra, a German enemy during the second World War.

(Tony found Steve Rogers as well as Hydra. He made the corruption of Hydra _burn._ That's why you never wear technology integrated weaponry on your body.)

* * *

Tony eliminated scrounging resistances in Russia, quelled the rage of enemies and weapon dealers in South Africa, removed politicians from power in Australia, and purged the world of Hydra intervention. He found a man named Bucky Barnes, also known as the Winter Soldier. The man was more mechanical than human- and Tony _owned_ mechanical.

The Tesseract went off, it had the inklings of it for months with steadily chaotic power readings. Tony watched the security footage, read the debriefings and tracked the cars along street light cameras until he knew the base and location of this 'Loki.'

He created a Green Energy large scale Arc Reactor to fuel his new tower- he welded it in place and energized the equipment the same time he caused an electrical fire in a Drug Lord's house in Peru.

Agent Phil Coulson slid across a folder Tony already knew about when it was being drafted in Microsoft Word. Rogers had been thawed for two weeks, Natasha Romanov finished a mission in Russia, well, at least had a call just hours ago to move to India to search for Bruce Banner (Tony knew the exact house the Hulk was staying at.)

Clint Barton had been compromised, Tony saw the footage and was mystified at it. _How_ was this Loki able to do that? How was he able to silence all those- those niggling thoughts and impulses to _hurt_ and _kill_ like the horrifying creatures Humans were.

 _"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart, you will know peace."_

Something about that sounded _beautiful_.

* * *

Tony cracked into SHIELD easy- did nobody remember that he had helped _create_ the Helicarrier after he had been cured? He knew everything on the ship, in the order of liars and spies.

Loki was located in Germany, Tony left with adrenaline thrumming like a drum.

He found Loki standing out in a street, clones (Copies?) creating a square where the gaudy Asgardian waltzed sprouting mesmerizing words. Tony's breath hitched as he heard the voices, drifting through the microphones on Natasha Romanov's Quinjet.

 _"Is this not simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled."_

Tony felt the breathless smile stretch across his face. Yes, _yes_.

"Jarvis," Tony spoke, voice winded with something more than adoration, "Jarvis, this Loki guy. He get's it, he _gets it."_

Jarvis didn't say anything, which let Tony hear Loki's final words.

 _"In the end, you will always kneel.'_

* * *

Thor came, took Loki, and gave Loki back.

Seated on the Helicarrier, Loki was left in an elaborate tank created for the Hulk (and Thor although it wasn't mentioned.)

Natasha went to interrogate Loki. Loki used information he had gathered about her, against her.

Loki was appearing more and more like _exactly_ what Tony envisioned.

Steve Rogers returned, carrying one of the massive Stage 2 guns (which wasn't operating just yet). If it worked, Tony would have destroyed it long ago. People started shouting, insulting and arguing loudly in such a small space.

Tony left to find Loki, something pulsing at the back of his brain, flaring with his heartbeat.

Loki wanted to rule the world- he had what Tony _didn't._

 _"Sir, there is an approaching Quinjet with hostile forces-"_

Barton, likely trying to get here to compromise the Helicarrier and free Loki.

Barton was a killer, he was a threat to everyone. He had tasted blood and he would never stop.

"Malfunction the jet."

Jarvis quietly informed him when it had been done. Tony mutely wondered whether Barton's wife knew the risks of his profession. She would be sickened with what Barton did.

Loki glanced up instinctively when Tony walked in. Loki stared with a bland expression at Tony's obvious expression of awe.

"You," Tony spoke, his voice wavering as he tried not to swoon, "You- you said that you would subjugate this world."

Loki raised one eyebrow at Tony's star struck face, "You seem willing, why not release me from this petty attempt of imprisonment?"

Tony blinked quickly, snapping his fingers suddenly. The multiple cameras around the room slumped, the lights flickering slightly from the power influx before powering along normally.

Loki glanced around surprised, and suddenly much more interested.

"You said that, that you would control everything?" Tony asked, voice rising in question, " _How?"_

Loki paused and spoke slowly, "Why, man of Iron, it appears you have a personal interest."

Tony shook his head, "No, I don't want to rule. I need to control everything- people are too, too _reckless._ They kill and they steal and they are _disgustingly selfish."_ Tony grit his teeth, feeling light headed, "But you- you _know_ this. You think they're disgusting _too_."

Loki's eyes had widened gobsmacked, "I- I have come to seek destruction of this population-"

"No you don't," Tony argued, taking a step forward to nearly touch the glass, "You want peace, you want everything under your control. People- there's people trying to hurt you. They _can't_ if you own _them."_

Loki looked torn between astonishment and deep longing.

"I control the planet," Tony whispered, confessing for the first time to another breathing person, "I control everything except what you can."

The god's face dawned with realization, "You cannot control the minds of those beneath you."

"You aren't," Tony acknowledged, "You're like me- you can do it _better._ People are violent and I want peace," Tony craned his head sideways without blinking, "You want peace."

"You're tainted with madness." Loki sneered, even that looked only half hearted.

"No," Tony crooned, desire flowing through his body with the rhythmic expected pulsations of his heart, "No, you know i'm right."

"I-" Loki wavered, looking incredibly drawn to the argument.

"I've conquered the world," Tony almost whispered, snapping his fingers to unlatch the gigantic airlock doors. The sudden draft of stale air brushed past Tony's senses as he outstretched a hand to the now free Norse god, "Please, subjugate the people."

Loki daintily took his outstretched hand, fingers grazing Tony's scarred palms with a tingling touch, "Man of Iron-"

"Tony," He interjected, "Call me Tony."

Loki offered a thin lipped, yet _genuine_ smile. "Let us liberate these mortals of their freedom."

* * *

Down below, before the security camera or live feed returned on the Helicarrier, Tony and Loki stood atop Tony's tower. By Tony's knowledge as well as Jarvis' tracking, the Helicarrier was directly above the southern end of the city, ten miles away from their current location.

"Shall we?" Tony asked, crooning sweet nothings to the creature he never knew he was incomplete without.

"Of course," Loki grinned, a sort of madness deep in his eyes which made the own dark whispers of Tony's brain sing with glee.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked, feeling complete for the first time in his life, "Blow up the engines on the Helicarrier."

There was an explosion, echoing across skyscrapers and buildings. The sky burned, illuminated by huge detonations casting beautiful orange and red streaming from the sky. It looked like a sunset, spectacular rays of gold reflecting across clouds.

The Helicarrier itself plummeted like a flightless bird, smashing across the ground. The satisfying _crunch_ flattened buildings and highrises. The earth collapsed, sewer systems and underground subways exposed to sunlight.

The ship of murderers and liars and _vile people_ were dead, as well as likely thousands of equally disgusting people.

The sky was beautiful, still filled with fire.

Loki laughed, and the ringing chimes of unabashed glee and happiness made something in Tony quiet for the first time in years.


End file.
